The Flying Five
by colours.of.music
Summary: The School Has been closed down for a year. So how has this new set of Hybrids come about? The Flock meet up with this mysterious gang, which leads them on a trail to find out where the newcomers came from. Violence, Romance, and Rivalry. Please R
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, All! What's up? This is my first Maximum Ride Fanfiction for this site. I've actually done one before for my friend. I never finished it, though. **

**But enough about that.**

**I tend to forget my Fanfiction stories, so if you want to read more, just like, keep posting reviews, because They flood my email inbox, forcing me to check on/update the story. So, yeah.**

**Um, I like constructive criticism. I DO NOT like it when you post "It sucks." Why? Because you don't TELL ME WHY. I'd be really, really, really honored if you wrote "It sucks" But give me a Reason. Yeah. That's all. **

**Anyways, I think I'll get around to writing the Story. **

**Oh, one more thing—The POV switches between Maximum and Fallon. It'll say what it is at the beginning of each chapter.**

_Chapter One_

-Maximum Ride-

Flying made me feel free and peaceful—for most people, it probably would, but generally people don't have the ability. When you have prepackaged wings, however, flying generally makes you really feel peaceful. Like, the aftermath of screaming into your pillow. Something like that.

The Flock was on a straight course across the Nevada Desert, already decided on by Fang and I. We were off duty from saving the world—if that's possible—and had decided to tour the country like the old days. However, we had chosen to by pass Nevada—If Iggy got into a casino, there'd be no getting him out. The sun was just beginning to set in the west, so we didn't have to fly straight into the glare. I quickly scanned the flock to check to see how they were doing. Iggy was blasting the Ipod and  
nodding with whatever music he was listening to. Gazzy was playing mental games with Angel, Nudge was chatting with Total, about who knows what, and Fang was looking down below us, at the Mountain Range we had been flying over for quite a while. He looked up when I looked at him, as if he sensed me. He gave me a crooked smile, and then resumed scanning the desert below.

"See any landing spots?" I asked him. Fang looked up at me again, then nodded and pointed to a few outcroppings in the side of the mountain. They weren't nearly as sheltered as I would have liked, but something told me we wouldn't find better sleeping quarters if we searched for the rest of the night. I signaled to the rest of the flock to land, and pulled on Iggy's arm, to let him know as well. We descended the sky on a current of warm air, tucking our wings in slowly, to avoid landing fast.

Once in touch with the ground, Fang set about unpacking the backpack we brought with us, which contained our bare necessities—cell phones, laptop, Ipods…

I took the matches Fang extracted from the pack and sent Angel and Gazzy on a quest for wood, which was pretty scarce. After a few minutes, however, they returned with some. I gave Nudge the job of starting the fire, and Iggy put away the Ipod so he could cook the Canned food Fang was taking out of the pack.

I looked around into the growing darkness, feeling uneasy. I tried to shrug off the feeling, telling myself it was only the terrible camping place that was giving me the jitters. But the whole place didn't feel right to me. Fang caught my eye and seemed to know how I was feeling. He winked at me and I smiled slightly.

A few hours later, after dinner, when the flock were all settled somewhere on the ground, wrapped in their wings as if they were blankets, I found myself sitting on the edge of the outcropping, staring out into the starry night. I felt wide awake, and filled with adrenaline. I stood up and stretched my wings—they spread fully in one stroke, stirring the still air and causing the dirt at my feet to sift. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked around my shoulder to see Fang, his wings outstretched as well, and giving me his creepy clever little smile. I smiled back shyly, and he raised an Eyebrow. "Shall we?"

I knew what he was talking about. I nodded slightly and stroked my wings downward, silently, and shoved off the outcropping. Fang followed me just as silently, our wings creating only a slight breeze—not to cold for the need of a jacket, but just enough breeze to keep you awake.

Fang swooped along beside me, our wings in perfect syncopation so as now to collide with each other. I glanced over at him—he was concentrating on flying, and I looked away. I tipped my wings slightly, and veered off to the left, and away from him. Pushing my arms and wings close to myself, I dived bombed, them spread my wings again and forced them down, which shot me back into the sky. I glanced up at the moon, and nearly fell out of the sky—figures—human like figures—were flying around in the moon's light, their silhouettes crossing it every once in a while. I must have gasped, because Fang, who had materialized at my side, followed my gaze.

"Erasers?" The question hung heavy in the air. I shook my head.

"I don't know."

"Should we get them?" 'Them' was the flock.

"I don't know…" I continued to stare. The Creature—whatever they were—moved with grace and speed that none of the flock could have been able to. They turned in hairpin swerves and soared straight up from a dive. It was incredible.

"They aren't erasers." I mumbled.

"What?"

"To…perfect." Fang watched their flying for a moment and nodded.

"So…what?"

"Huh?"

"What do we do?"

"Interrogate them, I suppose." I said, numbly. Fang nodded, and with two powerful wing strokes, we were flying head on to the creatures.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, wait, I forgot something in the last chapter:**

**Kara: Mr. Patterson, may I plleeeease own Max and the flock?**

**James: Yes….just kidding.**

**Kara: Not Fair!**

**James: Fine. **

**Kara: Yay!**

**And then I woke up from my dream….**

**I don't own The Flock! I only own the Flying Five--or the Flyers. That's all I meant to say.**

_Chapter Two_

-Fallon Love-

"Cut that out!" I hissed, as my comrade—and second hand, and twin, Falcon—swooped low over my head, surprising me, as well as forcing me to drop altitude. Falcon smiled coyly, and flicked the corners of his wings before flying off and away from me. I could still see him, considering I have insane eyesight, but it didn't matter. I was in the mood to chase him down—or was I?

I smiled broadly, and looked over my shoulder. My brown, leathery wings stretched taut over thin bones fairly glowed in the moonlight. I reached out to one and stroked it, feeling the warm skin, with fuzz, like peach fur. I loved the feel of my wings—which were exactly matched to that of bat's. I spread them and jumped from the little dirt landing I was on. I adjusted them so I could fly without flapping them, and swirled up into the darkness. "Falcon?" I asked, softly. The word echoed back to me, telling me that there was a tree directly in front of me, about ten feet away. That was the echolocation that my Bat DNA also gave me. I aimed for the lower branches, which were still nearly 20 feet off the ground, and drew my wings in. The hook like claws at the ends of my wings hooked neatly to the broad bow, and I swung forward, detaching the claws, which gave me leverage to speed faster then my normal speeds. I circled around for Falcon. I didn't see him, which was odd. In fact, I didn't see any of the others.

See, I lead a band of bat kids, which includes me, Falcon, a thirteen year old girl named Ariadne, a twelve year old girl named Andromeda, and a twelve year old boy named Feather, which we all thought was pretty Ironic. We have all lived together sense…I'm not sure exactly when, but I know we have been together for as long as I can remember, which is only about 14 out of the 16 years of my life back.

"Andromeda, Falcon, Ariadne, Feather!" I hissed, swooping out with huge strokes that were greatly muffled. "Get your tails over here now!" That was my expression—we didn't really have tails, but That's how I called them. "Now!" I whispered again. Even though it seemed like my voice hadn't carried at all, I felt the flyer's presence behind me. I sung around in mid air, and came face to face with my four friends. "Where were you?" I hissed, indignantly.

"We were scouting out somewhere to sleep." Andromeda said, quickly.

"We've got nearly ten hours to do that." I said, looking up at the moon, and feeling irresponsible. Even though Andromeda is Four years younger than me, she still sometimes beats me in the whole 'Mom' thing.

"And have you even found anything to eat?" Ariadne asked, crossing her arms in a defiant manner.

"No, but…"

Andromeda poked Ariadne and snapped "Hey, give it a break. We Know your stomachs bigger than your brain. No need to prove that point to us." Next thing I knew, Andromeda streaked by me as fast as her wings could carry her, followed hot on her heels by Ariadne.

"You Two!" I scowled, and turned to Falcon and Feather, who were Calmly flapping their wings just enough to stay aloft, and looking away innocently. "Find a tree to sleep in," I growled, before taking off after Ariadne and Andromeda.

Since I've had much more practice at flying and using echolocation than Andromeda and Ariadne, I had no problem catching up to the two. Andromeda was using the maneuver I had used before—the one we always used to get away from predators—where we swing off the branches of trees for leverage. Ariadne was relying on her quick speed to stay up with Andromeda, which was a good tactic, except for the fact that she couldn't make sharp turns, or she would lose that speed.

"Ariadne!" I cried, just before reaching the girl. She swerved in surprise and I flew into her, tackling her in mid air. She was so startled she stopped flying, and started to fall, bring me down with her. I spread my wings as full as they would go, and tilted them up so they would act a bit like a parachute.

After a second, she got over the initial shock and said "Lemme Go." And spread her wings, forcing her out of my grasp.

"Andromeda!" I called in a short of whisper-yell. "It's safe." Ariadne gave me a look that said it wasn't, but I ignored her. Andromeda dive bombed into are midst from above, careful to stop her decent behind me, so if Ariadne decided to attack, she would have a shield. Me.

"Would you to please not fight?" I asked. I said it before, but I'll say it again: I can't do the mother thing. Ariadne mumbled something, and Andromeda said "She has to say sorry for chasing me."

"Ariadne? Well?"

"Gees, I'm sorry." She said, rudely. I sighed, and Andromeda said "fine. I take back what I said." She turned and mumbled "Mostly," Under her breath. I sighed.

"Can we get food?" Andromeda asked, as we flapped off to where I had left the boys. I bit back a sarcastic remark, and said "Um, yeah, I guess we could eat a mountain lion or something." Andromeda raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. We landed on a small outcropping that barely held the three of us together, much less the tree that was situated on it. I stared up into the branches. "Guys?" Even though the question came out in a breathy whisper, I got an immediate echolocation reaction, which told me that the two were in this tree.

"We have an order for food." I said, as Falcon and Feather clambered down from the tree.

"What food?" Falcon asked.

"I dunno. What grows in mountains that's edible?"

"Don't ask me. Fathers the brainiac, go talk to him." I turned expectantly to the youngest of our group, and he said "What?"

"Food. Mountains."

"Oh. Um…I guess if you found cacti you could eat the red prickly things on them—prickly pears, I think?" He shook his head. "Or…umm, mountain goats. Maybe. I dunno." He shrugged, and I sighed.

"Why don't we fly around see if we see anything from above ground. Mountian lions are supposed to hunt at night, right?" Falcon asked.

"I thought Feather was supposed to be the brainiac?" Ariadne said, slightly amused.

"Change of heart," Falcon said, shoving off from the ground. We all followed him, one at a time.

The air always makes me feel new born and refreshed, and alive. I love flying, especially at night, when you don't have to worry about people seeing you, or anything. It's like all the worries are taken out of flying for 12 hours. I darted around, using only the slightest tilt of my wings to change directions. It felt wonderful to be flying. It was about the only activity that all the flyers could do without complaining. Or arguing. That and Trivia about bats, which I always supplied. I swooped past Andromeda and Said:

"Bats are the only mammals that…"

"Fly!" She cried, diving down and then titling her wings to sweep back up in the air. "About how many species of bat are there?" I heard her, asking Falcon.

"Well, If I say one, than it'll be wrong, because I know of more than one, plus you said 'species' so you yourself are saying there is more than one…" Falcon rambled on, trying to get around answering the question. Andromeda rolled her eyes and darted away from Falcon. "1,100!" he said, exactly ten seconds after she had lost her patience.

I sighed, and rolled my eyes. That was when, out of my peripheral vision, I saw something move. I turned to look—There were figures, _human figures_ on a wide outcropping about 200 feet below us. I could tell they were looking up at us. And there was plenty of moonlight to see that we weren't just albatrosses. I panicked. They couldn't know. I stay frozen in midair, until one of them took off from the cliff, spread it's wings and began to fly up towards us.

I felt the blood pounding in my brain. They weren't humans. They were Finz—or basically, hybrid creatures like us that were trained to kill hybrid creatures like us if we ever escaped the lab. They had found us.

"Flyers!" I screamed into the night air, not caring if the finz heard me. "Finz! Their here!" And I darted off

**Yay, I left you hanging! Okay, sorry. I'm going to start the next chapter as soon as I get this one onto fanfiction. So, If you are reading this writing, then I have already started typing the next chapter. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hwello, all. **

**Okay, you're probably wondering why I wrote 'Hwello'. Well, it's a typo that I was to lazy to correct. **

**Now, for a Maximum Ride, Short!**

**Max: Why Am I here?**

**Kara: I'm interviewing you.**

**Max: I never agreed to this! **

**Kara: Yeah, but the readers don't know that.**

**Max: Now they do.**

**Kara: …**

**Max: Is Mister Patterson Writing this?**

**Kara: No.**

**Max: Then why are you?**

**Kara: Mister Patterson gave everyone on this site permission to write about you. Right now you're staring in over 3,000 stories. Plus this short, of course. **

**Max: Wow. I'm popular. **

**Kara: Umm..yeah.**

**Max: What? Am I not?**

**Kara: Well, Harry Potter has over 300,000stories.**

**Max: I'm not as popular as him?**

**Kara: Nope. **

**Max: You have to make me popular!**

**Kara: I am. I'm writing about you write now.**

**Max: Yes! Write more about me, everyone! Please!**

_Chapter Three_

-Maximum Ride-

The Flying creature closest to me yelled something, and I turned to Fang. "What? Fang looked confused as well, but he said "'Flyers, Finz, Their here'?" He said. I turned quickly to face him. "Do you have any idea what that means?" He shook his head, and I narrowed my eyes. "Their not erasers. Their afraid of us." He nodded.

I took a deep breathy and cried "Hello?" I saw one of the flying people look back. She was a kid, about two years older than me. She looked surprised when she saw me, and mouthed something I couldn't hear. The next words, however, came in loud an clear, though she didn't know we could hear her. She was addressing something we couldn't see.

"They don't look like Finz." She said, slowly, thoughtfully, as she stared at us. "And they aren't chasing us any more."

"Yeah, if they were Finz, we'd be dead," A Male voice came out of the dark. I looked over at Fang. He shrugged.

"Finz?" I called out to the girl. She jumped.

"They talk." She said, as if pointing this out. Four figures materialized from the dark behind her: Two mails and two females. "Finz can't talk." Their voices lowered, and I couldn't hear what they said. Finally, the girl approached us, slowly. I inspected her wings.

Attached to her back were brown, slightly fuzzy, and quite ugly, wings. They were almost see through—in fact, I could see the lateral veins running through them. They didn't look like they could hold her weight, but some how they managed to carry her swiftly and efficiently closer to Fang and I.

"You aren't Finz." She said, when she could see us. She sighed in relief, and smiled, sticking out her hand. "Fallon Love."

Fang closed his eyes, a small smile on his lips. The girl pronounced her name like 'fall in love' I could barely contain my laughter. "Maximum Ride." I said, shaking her hand.

"So," Fallon began, as the four people she had been talking to moments before glided closer to us. "What pen were you in at the Lab? I never saw you."

"Lab?" I asked, stupidly. Of course she had been in a lab. The girl had bat wings! I resisted giving myself a head slap, and Fang asked "Lab?"

"Oh, right." The girl smiled sheepishly. "I mean the circus." Fang and I glanced at each other. "Circus?" I asked numbly.

"Umm...thats what we all called it…" Fallon trailed off.

"Never heard of it." Fang said, as I shook my head.

"Where are you from?" Fallon seemed genuinely confused.

"A place we called 'the school'." I supplied. Fallon wrinkled her nose, as if confused. "Really?"

"Yeah, but they closed it down. No more hybrid experiments."

"I didn't know about that." Her tone of voice sounded like she knew about the school, which threw me.

"Wait, are we even on the same page?" I asked, getting more confused by the minute.

"Probably not." Fallon admitted. "Know any place we can land?" Fang nodded and motioned to the outcropping about fifty feet behind us. Fallon signaled to the rest of her gang, and we descended onto the dirt ledge. Fang nudged Iggy with his toe, which brought him around in an instant. He quickly got to his feet, raising an eyebrow.

"Who decided to have a party?" He joked. I rolled my eyes. Iggy's hearing was getting better every day. A few moments later, Gazzy, Nudge and Angel were scrambling to their feet as well.

When we were all awake, I began "Gazzy, Nudge, Angel, Iggy—this is Fallon. And Um…"

Fallon sighed and said "Falcon, Ariadne, Andromeda and Feather."

"Yeah." I said. "Their umm…."

"Bat Hybrids." Fallon said finished for me. "Do you want me to talk?" She asked, sullenly. I was about to get in her face when she began. I had no choice but to sit and listen—unless I interrupted. Which I never do.

"Falcon and I are sixteen, Ariadne is thirteen, and Andromeda and Feather are twelve. We've all come a place known as the lab—bred there. We called it the Circus. The people there loved experimenting with hybrids. And we know about the school—where you came from. All the scientists talked about was the school, and how much more productive they were then the school. And…" Fallon trailed off.

"More productive?" I prompted.

"Yeah. One day they came into our pen—and they were talking about 'The school's experiments on night vision'. Something like that." While Fallon broke half way through her story to get a gulp of oxygen, I glanced at Iggy. His sightless eyes were wide open, in disbelief.

Fallon continued her story "They said 'They've already performed one experiment. They failed, miserably.' I remember them laughing. 'Well, we're only here to upstage them' the other replied, and the next thing we know, they've taken Ariadne."

"What?" I asked. Some how, I knew where this was going. I turned to Ariadne. "You have night vision?"

"No," She sneered. I glanced at Iggy. If possible, his eyes were even wider. "Did they make you blind?" He blurted out.

"No. I wish." She said, simply.

"What?" Iggy frowned in confusion. "What happened?"

Ariadne sighed, and continued the story where Fallon left off. "As she was saying, they took me from the cage, and brought me into some white, metal-ly surgical room. It was really cold. I remember that, distinctly. They layed me down on this freezing operating table, and they must have given me some knock out drug, because the last thing I remember was them saying 'We'll sure upstage the school' 'Only if the operation works'. And I remember the look of the operating room. It's a terrible thing to remember." She said, interrupting herself. "I'd have rather had my last colorful vision of woods or something."

"You're color blind?" Iggy said, disdainfully.

"No. Worse." Ariadne sighed. "I have Thermal Vision."

Gazzy broke our short silence by saying "Wait, what?"

"Short explanation is I see things with more heat in red, orange, yellow…and things with less color in like, blue or purple."

"The Experiment worked?" I asked.

"Of course. As we said before, the lab is more productive than the school."

"I thought there wasn't any other hybrid experimenting…laboratories left. Didn't the government like, go after them all?"

"Guess not." Falcon said, plopping himself down between Fang and I.

"Where is the lab?"

"I dunno. Somewhere in Cali." The younger boy—Feather said. "They never bothered to tell us. I only remember that when we escaped, the land we were flying over looked like the moon.

"Um…how so?" Nudge asked.

"Barren." Feather said, simply.

"Who were those Finz you were talking about?" Fang asked, suddenly. Falcon jumped in before Fallon could. "Really, really, really creepy people." He said, as if that explained it all. "Basically, our school guards."

"We know that." Fang said. "What are they like?"

"Well, their hybrids to. But. Not…like us."

"Obviously." Fang nodded. "Keep going."

"Their a cross between a human and…well, they didn't tell us exactly. And some type of bird, cause they have wings. And they act all…weird. They talk, but not like, conversational talk. If you say something to them, they like, have this way of titling their head and staring at you. If you're sarcastic with them, their heads implode. Only joking." Falcon added, catching his sister's eye.

"Anyways, you shouldn't really say their crossed with human DNA, because their isn't enough human in them. I don't know. Their physical structure is human, but their brain is like…chicken." Nudge laughed slightly.

"That's basically it."

Fang nodded, like he only half believed Falcon's statement, and I said "Well, considering it is night time, some of us should be going to bed." I nodded at Angel, and she threw a puppy-dog-eyes beg back at me. I rolled my eyes. "No buts."

"But I didn't say-"

"No buts." I repeated and Angel rolled her eyes. "Do you guys need a place to sleep?" I asked, turning to Fallon's group.

"We'll be fine." Fallon replied, curtly. "Flyers, disperse." She said, getting to her feet. Andromeda, Feather and Ariadne followed her. Falcon Leaned back on his elbows and turned to meet my gaze.

"You're name's Maximum. Pretty name."

"Thank you." I smiled. "I picked it myself. What about you?"

"Naw. Fallon picked the name. I picked something that went with it. Our names are all…combined."

"Like Fallon and Falcon." I nodded.

"And Falcon and Feather, and Ariadne and Andromeda." He added. "The Greek names." He explained for the last two names.

Fang groaned under his breath, and turned away.

"Um, aren't you going to go sleep with the rest of your flo—group?"

"Naw. Fallon Snores, and Feather talks in his sleep. Not to mention Ariadne Cries, and Andromeda is up all night."

"Seriously?"

Falcon grinned. "I was just joking. Except for Fallon's snoring."

"Awe…well, then, I guess you could sleep between Iggy and Fang…"

Falcon raised an eyebrow. "Only yanking your chain. I always sleep in trees." He got up, and scanned the area for a moment, before lifting off the ground and soaring off into the night.

* * *

**I'm sad! There isn't enough Reviews! I'm losing faith in the story! I might stop writing! Oh, noes! Anyways, people, please, please, please PLEASE review my story! Please with cupcake srpinkles and a trick candle on top?? (Cerrys are cliche :) **

**So. I'll keep writing. But If I don't get a review soon, I'll most likely stop.**

**That isn't a threat. I promise. thats a promise. I'll think people hate me story, and I will become self consicious and emo and hate myself and my stories if you don't read them. That's a threat. :) Well, if you have been reading, THANK YOU!!**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey, All

**Where are the reviews?? I'm review-less. It makes me sad… ******** Oh. And I noticed my last Author's note was all messed up. It's supposed to be "sPRinkles" and "cHerry**

_Chapter Four_

-Fallon Love-

When I woke the next day, it took me a grand total of a minute and a half to remember last night's events. After recounting them, I stretched and pushed my wings away from my back. I flapped them and pushed off from the tree, landing softly on the ground. I looked up into the tree, and smiled softly; The Flyers were a sight when they were asleep. See, since we are bat kids, our natural instinct is to sleep upside down. So we all sleep with our legs hooked around a branch. It's very, very funny. We all also slept with our wings out by our sides. I had noticed Max and her Flock had the ability to hide their wings. We did, too, but it was much more comfortable to leave them out for long periods of time.

I wandered away from the tree, walking to the edge of the outcropping, and thinking still of Max's Flock. Strangely, the one that I could picture the most was the one that hardly spoke—what was his name? Fang. What a perfect name for him. I giggled giddily. No! What was I thinking? I was two years older than him. But he seemed so…mature. I shook my head, forcefully. He was probably already taken. Max and him seemed like brother and sister, but maybe he had met some human girl who he was smitten for. I would not—not—barge into his affairs. I sighed, then took a deep breath, forcing all thoughts of Fang and the Flock from my mind. They crisp mountain air chilled my lungs, and wakened me fully. I stepped off the outcropping, and free fell straight down the mountain—falling closer to the ravine bottom, which was laced with some type of bright green tree. I caught myself about two feet above the highest tree, and soared upwards, my wings warm from being pressed so tightly together the night before. I glided back up to the outcropping, stretching as I flew. I noticed a cooking-fire issuing from the flock's outcropping. I knew I should land on our camping ledge and start breakfast, but landing would mean responsibility and being mother-like, something I didn't feel up to in the morning. I soared up, closer to The flock's camping spot and touched down gracefully on the edge of the outcropping. Max looked up from putting wood on the fire she and Gazzy and Angel were building, and waved. Gazzy smiled at me, but Angel gave me this creepy look. I wondered what she was trying to say, but eventually I forgot I was going to ask her about it. Nudge was sitting close to Iggy, chatting away while he alternately cooked something that was roasting on a spit over the fire, and putting his hand over Nudges mouth. I noticed that his antics didn't stop her flow of words, however"I like food, but I'm hungry now. Whens breakfast going to be ready? It's not like—" Iggy covered her mouth for a second—"Mean, but I'm just really hungry. Do you think if we put more wood on the fire—" Iggy stemmed her flow of words for another second. "cook faster?" I noticed every time he covered her mouth, she didn't stop talking, but continued, so her speech was missing pieces.

Finally, I glanced over at Fang. I felt a row of shivers go down my spine when he grinned. I shivered, to shake off the feeling, then said shyly, "Hi, Fang," He nodded, and I looked away. "Hi, Angel, Gazzy, Nudge, Iggy. Hey, Max."

"Where's um..Falcon? And um, Feather? And um..Andromeda? And Ariana?"

I chose not to correct Max. "Their still asleep." Max nodded, accepting the answer, and looked around the small outcropping. "Mind if I hang with you till they wake up?" Max didn't reply, but Iggy said "Sure. But you have to bring your own food to this potluck." I turned to look at him: Was he jesting? "You don't have to catch it, however. It can already be dead. We're like, roadkill café—You kill it, we grill it."

Gazzy laughed loudly, Nudge and Angel looked utterly disgusted, And Fang and Iggy grinned. Max rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to him," She warned. "And sure, you can sit with us."

I nodded gratefully and lowered myself to the ground, curling my wings around my slim frame like a huge blanket. "Do you need more food? I could wake the flyers and we could hunt. We're really good at it."

"Don't worry about it," Max said. "We can always nab more, when we need it." She sat down next to me. "We can hunt, to you know. I'm really good at Stalking McDonalds." She said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, wondering if she was teasing me or not. "So, um, are you guys, like, based on different species of bird, or something?" I asked, steering the subject away from hunting. Max pondered a moment. "I'm not sure," She said after a while. "I mean, we all obviously share the same Bird senses. But we all have different feathers and wingspans. I've never really thought about it." She looked away and I noticed her gaze was rested on Fang. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason. Just, like, we're all based on different bats. Er...we have different Bat DNA." I nodded, then stopped talking, feeling stupid. Nudge appeared beside me. "Cool!" She said, enthusiastically. "Are you a Vampire bat? Is it true they suck blood? If you drank my blood, would I become a Vampire bat?"

"No," I replied, suppressing laughter. "I'm not a Vampire Bat. That's Andromeda."

"Really??" I saw Nudges eyes widen. "That's so cool! Max, can I meet Andromeda?? Please??" Max eyed her warily. "Didn't you meet her last night?"

"That didn't count; I was sleepy."

"Yeah, but you still met her. Besides, she's sleeping right now."

"Oh, fine. Hey, why do you guys sleep in the night, not the day?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. Ask Feather. I think he'll give you some scientific term for it."

Nudge nodded. "Are you guys eating with us?"

"No," I said, catching Max's eye, at the same time she said "Yes," Nudge stayed silent, waiting for the verdict.

"We can't stay with you, we bring problems." I said, uncomfortably. "Like Fenz. You haven't seen them. You don't know what they are like."

"You bring problems?" Iggy snorted, overhearing me. "It's us that can contract the bird flu—I didn't think Bats got that." I appreciated Iggy's light-hearted jokes, but I still didn't want to stay with them. We couldn't. We'd be a burden, and five more mouths to feed.

"So? You could catch your own food." Angel said, in response to my mental worries. I stared at her. "What?"

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Right. Forgot to tell you—I can read minds."

"Seriously?" She nodded, but had a look on her face that said there was more to it. I would have continued to question her, but Max cleared her throat.

"It'll be no problem for you to stay with us." She said, quickly. "Please?"

I glanced at Fang, and he caught my eye. I turned back to Max, and gave a sigh of defeat. "Fine."

**PLEASE don't hate Fallon cause she loves Fang! That's like you hating your self because you love Fang, and he can't be taken away from Max. I don't want to spoil the story for you, but I promise: Max gets Fang. Somehow. Near the end. After a Twist….**


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, All

**Yay! Another Review! Thank you, so, so so, so, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so ,so, SO! Much! Yay-ness. Now I'm happy enough to write another chapter, even though I am supposed to be baking a Cake for My mom's birthday. But dad has to get her out of the house, first…**

_Chapter Five_

-Maximum Ride-

I knew exactly what I was doing, suggesting Fallon and her Flock travel with us: To find out exactly where she came from. For normal kids like you, reading this, you feel hatred when you think of Itex. For a bird kids like me, I feel like, 'Death to Itex'. So 'Death to The Lab'. Plus, Fallon and her flyers where different from most mutant kids I knew—and I couldn't think of why. I mean, sure, they had bat wings, but something told me that that wasn't it. I sighed, and dropped a log from our pile of wood into the fire, and watched the flames lick the edge. Then I realized how she was different.

"Do you have any, like, powers?" I asked, quickly, turning around. I must have startled Fallon, for she jumped and asked "Me? Powers? Like, what?" I swirled my finger In the air and said "Like Angel's Ability to read minds."

"I don't think so," Fallon said, after a minute. "I mean, we've never done anything…" She trailed off, and seemed to be lost in her thoughts. She looked away, down into the Ravine below the ledge we were on. "I don't think so," She repeated. I didn't press her anymore, even though I wanted to know what she meant by that.

Nudge jumped up from her seat beside the fire, and started talking: "Max, can we please fly?? I want to stretch my wings and I'm Bored. Please?? Pretty, Pretty please with Butter Rum Sauce on top??" I rolled my eyes and gestured to the mountains. "Fly, then," Nudge got up, and spread her wings as she raced to the outcropping's edge. She jumped and Her wings caught on a draft of warm air, and she soared upwards, rapidly outdistancing the outcropping. "I'll go with her," Fallon said, after a second. "I should stretch my wings to." She jumped off the edge, but unlike Nudge, she hadn't spread her wings. I scrambled over to the edge in time to see her finish her free-fall and snap her wings out, before soaring up. Impressive.

I stepped away from the edge, and turned around, coming face-to-face with Fang. I immediately stepped back, onto nothing but air. It's a dreadful feeling you get, just before you fall. Even if you have wings, it's still surprising, and sudden. I gasped, but Fang Grabbed my flailing arms and pulled me back onto solid ground.

Heart Pounding, I managed to gasp out "Thanks," Fang nodded and said

"Fallon? You want to travel with her?"

"We have to find out about this 'lab'."

"No, we don't."

I looked hard at Fang, and said "You don't want to?"

"Max, we don't need another NDE."

"NDE?" I asked, distracted.

"Near Death Exerience."

"Aren't our entire lives NDEs?" Fang didn't laugh.

"Max. Were safe now. We can't threaten that safety. Think about Gazzy, and Angel. And Nudge. What would you do if something happened to them?"

"Nothing is going to happen to them," For the first time, I realized we were both whispering. I didn't know why, but I didn't raise my voice.

"What if something happens to you?"

"It's a bigger loss to me than it is to you."

Fang looked into my eyes for a long time, not saying anything. I wanted to look away, but I forced myself to hold his gaze. I couldn't hold his gaze anymore—in a second I would have to look away—

But I never got the chance. Fang leaned closer to me and said in a breathy trace of a whisper: "No, Max, it isn't."

And then Nudge Screamed.

**CLIFFHANGER! Admit it: you NEVER saw it coming! MUHAHAHAHA And I got Fax again. See? Told you. (I was kidding about the twist. Maybe… oo…suspicions…) So. Umm, writing some more. I like this story. But please, Please review. I love reading your feedback!**


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